No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! is notable for starting with a a controversial premise that allowed the series to gain a loyal following but proved to be alienating to everyone else. Then around 2015, the series had an Genre Shift that gained the series other type of audiences. While the pre-established fanbase got divided between those who thought it improved the series and those who felt it fixed something that wasn't broken. Many other changes and new characters added later, the series has keeped a small but dedicated following to this day but opinions around which additions were the right call and which ones were a mistake are all over the place.
Examples:
open/close all folders
General
- As the series goes on, it becomes apparent that Tomoko's not as much of a social wreck as she was when she first started high school. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who say that this is a bad thing for her, since it takes away from what they consider the fun of the story. On the other hand, others say that she becomes a bit of a Weirdness Magnet, since as she becomes more normal, everyone else's quirks become more prominent. And she still isn't even remotely well-adjusted, just less of an absolute loner.
- Due to the series leaning heavily into Cringe Comedy territory concerning Tomoko's social anxiety, a debate sprung up over whether the humor of the series was too mean-spirited given the subject matter. Others find it fair game since the majority of the bad things that happen to Tomoko end up being self-inflicted.
- As the cast expanded to include more and more of Tomoko's schoolmates, the fandom got divided even further. Though many welcomed the additions, there's a small but very vocal minority that disliked all the focus given to the new characters, as they felt that Tomoko was getting alienated from her own series.
- The increased amount of Les Yay and Ship Teasing from the Disneyland trip onwards. While many don't mind and parts of the fandom even enjoy it, others feel that the constant Les Yay and Ship Teasing undermines the focus on platonic friendships, detracts from proper Character Development, and comes across as Pandering to the Base since it happened after shipping became a major part of the fandom.
- The overall idea of Tomoko entering in a relationship is divisive. Given, it was one of her original objectives, there's a solid portion of fans who want an arc of Tomoko getting in a relationship, with many fans seeing it as the next logical step the manga should take. With that said, many fans who had embraced the post-Kyoto status quo, prefer the focus on platonic friendships and feel Tomoko getting a couple, would inevitably turn that character into a Spotlight-Stealing Squad and prefer if any potential ship remained only teased. And if you wanna start a Flame War ask if that potential couple should be male or female.
- Should the manga have ended already? You would find a good number of fans online arguing that once Tomoko gained a solid group of friends (the End of Second Year or the Disneyland Arc being common points where fans point out this happened) the story lost any point and the rest of the series can be seen as unnecessary. The other side of the fandom does defend the extension of the story arguing it's much more interesting to see Tomoko actually participating in the relationships she has developed, explores mores sides of the other characters and think Tomoko gaining different challenges besides trying to become more popular was the better choice. There's also a division between those who think the series should end with a Graduate from the Story or want to see Tomoko in other stages of her life.
- The Tomoki and Sachi ship. For some fans it's an unexpected but welcome pairing, but for others it's an unexpected and forced pairing. What side a reader falls on also tends to track with whether they like or dislike yuri Ship Teasing elements mentioned above, although some dislike it because they feel that the elements of Sachi's character that made her surprisingly popular are being downplayed to accommodate it. That's not even getting into the fans who ship Tomoki with either Yoshida or Komiyama or Sachi with Koharu.
- Related, Tomoki gaining an Unwanted Harem can be seen as a base breaker. For some, it's a pleasant break from the girl-on-girl ship tease, allows Tomoki to have his own subplots away from his sister and think it has delivered some really hilarious chapters centered around it. On the other hand, every girl he attracts has been drawn to him by some accident or misinterpretation, and a majority of his time with the harem has been actively avoiding it or deliberately being rude to the girls for obsessing over him. It's with this that detractors say that the harem is a waste and a detriment to all the characters involved in it, especially if the girls didn't have an established relationship with Tomoki prior to their crushing on him. A third faction actually enjoys the subplot precisely because of how unwilling is Tomoki of participating on his admirers's antics finding it to be a hilarious desconstruction of how annoying an Unwanted Harem would be in real life.
- After Minamote (the original arc), there has being an influx of chapters focused on secondary characters that either feature Tomoko in a small role or not all. You can bet that at least one fan would express frustration in the fandom's forums every time that Tomoko's story is being sidelined in favour of storylines focused on different characters (usually Minami-centered episodes or Tomoki's harem-centered episodes), meanwhile other fans find the other subplots to be just as compelling/funny as the Tomoko's subplot and don't see it as an big issue.
- Chapter 216 (the two-parter showing the in-universe movie A Youth Like This) quickly gained mixed reactions. Some fans regard it as a hilarious pay off for the movie arc and a good old dose of the manga's trademark Cringe Comedy, while other fans found it to be a poor attempt of invoking So Bad, It's Good in-universe and think it would have being funnier if they leave it to audiences imagination how awful the movie actually is.
Story Arcs
- In general, the fandom seems divided between those who prefer the Pre-Kyoto side of the manga and the Post-Kyoto side of the manga, while a big portion of the fanbase has embraced the whole thing as essential parts of Tomoko's story, is very hard to find anyone who finds both sides equally enjoyable.
- Fans on the Pre-Kyoto side, argue that the story was more unique, relatable and funnier when it was about a poor girl trying and failing to become popular thanks to her social anxiety and see post-Kyoto as not nearly as interesting being more of a less challenging Slice of Life focused on multiple girls (Some fans go further and argue that Pre-Kyoto is the only portion worth reading of the series)
- Fans on the Post-Kyoto side find Pre-Kyoto to be an unberable Slow-Paced Beginning before their favorite character is introduced and find more enjoyable the focus on Character Development and the Ensemble Cast that the Cringe Comedy that was downplayed since the early days.
- Some fans feel the third year chapters are not as good as the first two years for their Lighter and Softer tone and being more of a Ensemble Cast rather that focusing only on Tomoko, while others fans see them as a Even Better Sequel for those same reasons. Another faction think they were pretty good until the movie arc started and feel the series felt into Seasonal Rot after that and on the other hand, there are those who think the movie arc actually revitalized the manga after a bunch of rather uneventful arcs.
- The Disneyland arc is one of the most popular arcs in the manga thanks to having the largest scope of the recurring cast, introducing many fan favorites and been the moment where Tomoko solidified many of her relationships, some fans even see it as Tough Act to Follow for the rest of the manga and believe it was the best point for the story to end. With that said is also a bit controversial, as some fans perceived as the point where the Les Yay went out of control and for Yuri and Yoshida grabbing the Jerkass Ball.
- The Golden Week arc. Fans either enjoyed for the exploration of different dynamics on Tomoko's group or find it tedious for it's rather formulaic formula.
- The Movie Arc was well-received at first but has quickly turned into the most polarizing portion of the whole manga. Many fans loved it (with some going as far as saying it Winned Back The Crowd after some rather unventful arcs) thanks to the large scope of characters, showing the creative process of the movie in meticulous detail, giving Tomoko a challenge besides becoming popular, Minami's subplot and Asuka getting Demoted to Extra. With that said, many fans hated it for his long length, chapters that were seen as Padding, a huge amount of characters leading to an unfocused plot and Asuka getting Demoted to Extra, and see it as the proof the manga has overstayed it's welcome.
Base Breaking Characters
- Tomoki is seen by many fans as a really hilarious and sympathetic Only Sane Man Butt-Monkey who always justify his appearences and find his dislike for his sister justified in every scene they share but think he truly cares about her. On the other hand you will find a good number of viewers who see it as a unlikeable brat with no interesting traits besides reacting to the girl's antics and liking soccer who gets too much screentime, think he started lacking any purpose in the manga once Tomoko gained friends and has shown little to none Character Development in comparison to his sister. Whatever his Unwanted Harem storyline is hilarious or a forced way to keep the character around is up to debate.
- There's also some division on how sympathetic his Butt-Monkey status should be seen, to his fans he doesn't deserve any of it, to his oppositors he could avert a lot of conflict if he Grew a Spine and put limits to other people.
- Hina Nemoto early on, particularly during the chapters where her anime hobby got accidentally discovered by Tomoko. Some like her for her (usually) friendly attitude towards Tomoko. Meanwhile, others are more leery, seeing her as a more antagonistic figure who's not as nice as she seems. Even in-universe, Tomoko doesn't know what to make of Hina. After getting in a few bouts of Passive Aggressive Combat with her, Tomoko tends to act suspicious of Hina, only to get caught off-guard whenever she does something genuinely nice.
- Ogino is an odd variant of this, where the character was suppose to be disliked and audiences are divided between those who agree with the narrative (and Tomoko) and those who see her as Unintentionally Sympathetic. Many fans hate her (albeit in a Love to Hate kinda of way) for her lack of tact while dealing with Tomoko's (and later Nemoto's) situation and constantly making Tomoko's life even worse that it already is by forcing her into more embarassing situations. With that said, she has many defenders that argue that (for better or worse) she was the only one supporting Tomoko with her lack of a social life and see her as an unironic Cool Teacher. Whatever she deserves credit for groping Tomoko with Yuri, Yoshida and Ucchi or if that redeems her from her past mistakes is also a point of contention.
- Komiyama after Flanderization kicked in. Either her obsession with Tomoki and her perverted tendencies makes her a creep and the most annoying character in the whole manga or are so extremely over the top it makes her hilarious in a Crosses the Line Twice way.
- Asuka has been getting a lot of criticism from Western readers due to how, compared to the rest of Tomoko's acquaintances, she's too pretty and too perfect, which makes her boring as a result, made worse later on when she started gaining more focus as Tomoko's potential crush leading to accusations of being an way too perfect Satellite Love Interest. On the other hand many fans love her primarily due to how different she was compared to the host of weirdos Tomoko had as friends and think her interactions with Tomoko are adorable and are glad she's constantly making Tomoko gave the best of her, some fans also argue she's not nearly as perfect as her detractors paint her given she has a bit of a controlling nature, and gets jealous when Tomoko's involved. Also once she went Out of Focus after the Summer Camp arc fans seem divided between those who are glad and those who miss her.
- Yuri was the Breakout Character of the series in his moment and even got 1st place in the Popularity Poll but as time passed she became one of the most divisive characters of the series. While adored by many fans for being a realistic depiction of a socially inept introvert, many more started to dislike Yuri as her issues with jealousy and possessiveness came to light and felt that she became increasingly unlikeable.
- Her Characterization Marches On is also rather divisive. Originally, Yuri was characterized as the Only Sane Man of the Kyoto group, and after that arc she was a Nice Girl Ordinary High-School Student who invited Tomoko to lunch and walked to and from school with her. During the end of year party, however, Yuri suddenly became even more socially inept than Tomoko and was The Stoic most of the time. Depending on the fan this is a jarring change on characterization that threw away a lot of the elements that make the character well-loved in the first place and turned her unlikable or it works better for the series since it gives the character more issues to work on in the point where she became a more prominent character and even argue that's not that different from her previous characterization and can be handwaved as Tomoko getting to know her better during third year.
- From the Disneyland field trip and onwards Yuri became so prominent she arguably became the series’ deuteragonist, which lead to some fans to accuse her of being a Spotlight-Stealing Squad, while others see it as justified given her popularity and her friendship with Tomoko getting closer.
- Ucchi is a fan favorite, thanks to her crush on Tomoko being both endearing and providing some of the biggest laughs post-Kyoto (not to mention, being the only character confirmed to be both a lesbian and in love with Tomoko) and having enough Hidden Depths to avert her from being boring every time she's not focused on Tomoko. With that said, she has some detractors between those who see her as a one dimensional character in comparison to the rest of the more developed main cast of Tomoko's friends and those who are frustrated on the lack of progress she has made in her relationship with Tomoko since her first apperance and feel her romantic subplot is doomed to never go anywhere.
- Fuuka to a degree. Some find her running gag and storyline regarding her curiosity over what's going on with Asuka and her behavior funny and don't mind how frequently she appears. Others find her forced and overused. Over time that's lessened as she's fallen into the role of Tomoko's dumb as rocks Sitcom Arch-Nemesis and brought back some of the more awkward aspects of the manga's humor.
- Sachi quickly became extremely popular over her introduction for being a chilling Alpha Bitch whose appearences are taken much more seriously but has started gaining some Hype Backlash of some fans who either don't see the big deal or don't feel she fits well with the tone of the manga. Also because of her popularity she started to get more and more screentime despite not having much to do with the recurring arcs and so far having not interacted with Tomoko yet leading some fans to accuse her of being an Spotlight-Stealing Squad and a major source of the Arc Fatigue of the movie arc, meanwhile other fans are fairly fascinated to where her storyline is going so naturally don't see it as an issue.
- A mix of Alternative Character Interpretation and later events painting her in a less flattering light had turned Mako into one, particulary once she decided to ally with Sachi so she can get Tomoki away from Yoshida. Is she still the All-Loving Heroine Nice Girl that pressumed to be at the beginning of the manga who just happens to have her own manipulative and jealous streak but is still likeable enough or is she secretly the biggest Jerkass in the main cast who doesn't deserve Yoshida?
